Ishtiyaq Ahmad
Srinagar, Aug 11: The investors of United States (US), Dubai and England are willing to invest in the Union territory of Jammu and Kashmir, a top government official said.
“From last week we have been in talks with delegates and investors from the United States (US), Dubai, and England. The prospective foreign investors had detailed discussions with the government officials on their business plans,” the top officials in the industries and commerce department said, wishing not to be named.
He said that they have also asked them to visit the region and explore investment opportunities provided by the UT government.
He said that they have provided them the knowledge and research-based information, policy advocacy, marketing and developmental activities in the focus sectors.
The official said that they were also in talks with foreign delegates like- Russia, Uzbekistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, and Belarus — for exploring different avenues to attract global investments.
“The government is working towards policies and schemes to ensure ‘ease of doing business’ to investors. We are always open to facilitate queries and collaborate with the trade fraternity,” the official maintained.
“We are sure that more traders from across the world will be looking forward to visiting the Union Territory,” he said.
He said around 400 kanal of land have already been approved in the Union territory. “We have identified 30000 kanals of land and out of it around 400 kanals of land have been approved,” he maintained.
On August 5, 2019, the Centre bifurcated the state into the two Union Territories of J&K and Ladakh.
The two units came into existence on October 31.
Meanwhile sources said that the SIDCO has received expressions of Interest (EoI) from several outside companies. These companies, according to the official sources, have shown interest in investing in different sectors in J&K, including apple industry, Hospitals, cold storages, dry fruit and saffron industries, and tourism and hotel industries.
“All of them have submitted detailed project proposals, including land required, setting up their businesses,” said the source.
“Once some companies start their operations in J&K, it will encourage other investors to follow. We hope this is only the beginning.”
It is to mention here that to remove bottlenecks for the land allotment under the new industrial policy, the government has created an easy online registration option for the investors across India.
The investors can now submit their proposals online for the investment in Jammu and Kashmir.
Principal Secretary Industries and commerce Ranjan Prakash Thakur said that the aim to introduce online registration was to provide a hassle-free option for the investors interested in expanding base in JK.
“The aim was to make the whole process a single window clearance. We don’t want to make the entire process tedious for the investors,” Prakash said.
The Principal Secretary said the new J&K industrial policy has generated a lot of interest in the corporate sector.
“Projects worth Rs 23,000 crore have already been locked,”
Sources said that the sectors that the government identified include tourism, agro and food processing, manufacturing, IIT and IT, health and pharmaceuticals, skill development, milk, poultry and wool, infrastructure and real estate, herbal and medicine plants, film sector, renewable energy, agriculture and mulberry, handloom, handicrafts and horticulture.(KINS)
